To the roots of all things

Many years ago, the world knew nothing of seasons. There was only light and darkness. They were the moon and the sun, providing endlessly for life as they flourished. The people were thriving and not long after, the population grew, more and more, yet claimed lands were not getting bigger. The need to provide paved way for village leaders and healers until enough souls were born, causing difference in opinions to create a division into different clans. Nature and beliefs became the root of disagreements until one such agreement unified the clan leaders. Separating in the name of promises and belief. Though there were no bloodshed that led to the agreement, corruption of the mind began to foster in different parts of the land.

A community of guardians and elementals, spirits and beings in this world is called a clan. When there are protectors, healers, guides, and the good, they are called circles – ones who protect the living. Those who challenge the circles are called orders, those who follow a power that tests the boundaries of the living and blessings. A total of four clans having many circles and orders, this generation of souls will be tested.

Clan Tsuchisoi, beings who lived grounded, bound to the roots of the earth itself. The village was veiled in winding vines and resting stones, the quiet foundation of life. Their hair, like dancing moss, twisted with delicate roots that moved softly in the wind. Their bodies covered from a shine only the sun’s heat could give, with marks bestowed by the nature goddess. Green washed over their land in a magical sweep, as though nature itself had laid a blessing of prosperity and growth upon the soil. They were gifted with roots that held memories and history in the form of stones and soils. They could sense any kind of disturbance coming their way into the land and buried souls. They were always the easiest to get along with the spirits. They were the best planters of seeds and souls. Their homes are just magical, deep rooted and earthly. They were the keepers of memories, the fruit of harvest, the mentors of earth.

Clan Kazesoi, as below so above. They could fly blessed with wings that could cover their whole bodies as if they were personal shields from the scorching heat and the blizzards sent their way. Coming from this clan, their fate was not their own. Their lives, decided even before birth. They are those who walk with the wind, they carry the fates of other beings in their hands. They were as beautiful as the wind that could be felt but not seen. They were silent protecters, omen readers. With hair as bright as the sky and eyes as white as clouds, their wings mirroring the clouds as they would be in a single day like a foretelling of what’s to come. As free as they could be to fly and enjoy the land from above, they were as imprisoned as souls who seek freedom from the whispers of false promises. Love was not an option, and procreation was a necessity to further the lines of protectors. Their hands with whisps of clouds and their feet as swift as the wind. Yet their hearts are as cold as ice on a snowy field, or so many believed it to be. Their land was protected with giants who pretended to be clouds and the wind. Their homes were covered with a sky that they could manipulate. The land was kissed with an endless breeze, fields dancing as the wind swept through them like a blessing of good fortune. They offered rain and sun to those in need, and the shade of protection. They were protectors, givers, and listeners.

Clan Umisoi, where water lives, life thrives. As land needed protectors, life underwater needed guardians. To continue the flow of life and cleanse the souls of the corrupt, they were among the first protectors of life on earth with blessings of wisdom and guidance as ancient souls who continue to linger in this new age of thriving. Their hair curled at the ends with colors depending on the gifts they carried with their fates. Silvers for fingertips with shades of blue swirling across their skins as if they were transparent, only seeing the graceful movement of streaming water keeping them alive underneath what protects their very souls. They were trainers of dragons, and guides to the past, present, and future. They had a voice so mesmerizing, listeners would come from all over just to hear what they had to say. Thus, they too were the homes of many leaders. But they were also the homes of most healers and seers, sea creatures or spirit guides, and balance.

Clan Ensoi, the home of reincarnation and bearers of the secrets of rituals and wishes. Where life ends, a new one is guided. Meeting someone from this clan seems as if their bodies were covered in memories, marked by flames all over their skin. Ember eyes in the dark to help souls transform. They give homes warmth from the cold, flames to help satiate their bellies and purify what is thirsted for. They protect belief, land, and wishes through rituals to help light even the darkest of days. Each mark and sigil they bear a skill was developed. Though they carry heat in their hands and hearts, the beautiful robes stitched with flames spiraling upward were just as mesmerizing as their ability to provide light in a dark home. They also guide spirits to the motherland and prepare new sigils and rituals that help healers and shrine maidens care for the people.

Together, these clans created a generation where neighbors were friends, travel was safe, the only currency is given from the heart, and people from different clans could form a union for adventure. Life was simple and easy to appreciate at this time. Healers and seers were abundant, and sickness in all forms was not common. A soul could be entwined with a different clan, and hostility was not abundant. Walls were trees and bushes of flowers and fruits. Wings were nurtured, not imprisoned, and spirits were respected, not captured. Life then became gloomy in a world where the land continued to crack under the rule of the current leader of one of the clans, who married another. For the sake of selfish needs for power, darkness has spread all over the land.

A new generation of souls was born in this year of darkness, or so everyone hoped for it.